Kirk Sorensen has the story:The following legislation has been introduced in the US Senate today by Senator Orrin Hatch and Senator Harry Reid:Be sure to check out the discussion at Kirk's forum as well.
A BILL
To amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to provide for thorium fuel cycle nuclear power generation.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the "Thorium Energy Independence and Security Act of 2008".
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) the United States and foreign countries will require massive and increasing quantities of energy during the 20-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act to support economic growth;
(2) nuclear power provides energy without generating unacceptable quantities of greenhouse gasses;
(3) the generation of nuclear power in the United States and many foreign countries has been discouraged by concerns regarding—(A) the proliferation of weapons-useable material; and (B) the proper disposal of spent nuclear fuel;
(4) nuclear power plants operating on an advanced thorium fuel cycle to generate nuclear energy—(A) could potentially produce fewer weapons-useable materials than uranium-fueled plants; and (B) would produce less long-term waste as compared to other nuclear power plants;
(5)(A) thorium is more abundant than uranium; and (B) the United States possesses significant domestic quantities of thorium to ensure energy independence;
(6)(A) thorium fuel cycle technology was originally developed in the United States; and (B) cutting-edge research relating to thorium fuel cycle technology continues to be carried out by entities in the United States; and
(7) it is in the national security and foreign policy interest of the United States that foreign countries seeking to establish or expand generation and use of nuclear power should be provided—(A) access to advanced thorium fuel cycle technology; and (B) incentives to reduce the risk of nuclear proliferation.
Picture of the element Thorium on the periodic table.
Comments
For Once lets work together to clean up our act rather than being spoilt children looking for more... and more... and more... while our children and ultimately our own genes perish in either photochemical smog and acid rain or by the stored weapons grade plutonium and unused commercially and strategically "kicked under the carpet" thorium stocks slowly leach out to poison earth's fragile biosphere. That way if we, in this democratic world, are not smart enough to figure out that:
a)Half a century ago, a different kind of nuclear reactor was invented, one that burns Thorium - an almost inexhaustible supply of fuel, and much cheaper than the enriched-uranium fuel used by current reactors. It can even use the nuclear waste from other reactors as fuel! The Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor, or LFTR for short, operates at low pressures, so it could never explode like the reactor at Chernobyl, and its liquid-fuel design makes it physical impossible to overheat, like the reactor at Three Mile Island.
Unfortunately, the LFTR wasn't good for making weapons-grade plutonium, so it was abandoned.
b)Molten Salt Reactors & Renewables
MSRs ability to easily and safely vary its power output, simply producing more electricity when it is needed and less when it is not. Conversely Renewable Energy sources do not produce electricity when the 'sun does not shine and the wind is not blowing'. MSRs could 'idle' when the sun was shining or the wind blowing, and then increase their power output as either the demand increased or the Renewable Energy source declined.
This is a natural synergy between MSRs and Renewables, as by reducing the MSR's power output, the lifetime of its graphite in the nuclear core and along its walls is extended. Renewables win with MSRs on the grid by helping Renewables being able to increase their contribution to the Electric Grid without destabilization from Renewables' intermittent supply, and Renewables would increase the MSR's graphite lifetime and reduce the cost of its replacement by reducing the MSRs' output when the 'sun is shining and the wind is blowing'.
Intelligent Nuclear, such as MSRs in partnership with Renewables, is the lowest cost and least carbon dioxide emitting strategy any country could pursue.
c)Efficiency in all "suspects" is essential, so a price hike is good, mothball it all till everyone is thinking Superconductors in a Global Grid and Renewable Nuclear powered Mag-Lev Trains, preferably on the same gauge and Voltage Please
"Only two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity. And I am not so sure about the former."
Albert Einstein
We surely are doomed !